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Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009 10:26 PM
Vote in Congress offers hope for buyout of Treece, Kan.
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People living in a Kansas town contaminated for decades by abandoned lead and zinc mines could finally be getting a break.
Both chambers of Congress on Thursday approved legislation to give the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to buy out Treece, Kan., and relocate its residents.
The legislation, added to an appropriations bill, is expected to be signed into law by the president by Saturday.
Estimates say it will cost about $3 million to $3.5 million to buy out Treece, which is surrounded by huge piles of mining waste called chat and dotted with uncapped shafts and cave-ins filled with brackish, polluted water.
Sen. Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, said he has been in contact with EPA officials and expects a buyout announcement “in weeks, not months.”
Until 1970, haphazard lead and zinc mining contaminated land in and around Treece.
Picher, Okla., a town adjacent to Treece, was bought out by the government because of cave-ins and contamination. In 1997, hazardous lead levels were found in one in four Picher children.
Since Picher’s buyout, Treece residents have called for the government to do the same for them. Residents said the government took away all of Treece’s amenities when it bought out Picher. The two towns were in fact one until the 1990s, when surveyors redrew the state line.
But EPA officials had said the risk of cave-ins and contamination in Treece did not warrant a buyout.
In August, at Roberts’ request, the EPA sent officials to Treece and listened to town residents’ concerns. In September, the EPA began testing blood-lead levels and air quality.
The Wichita Eagle contributed to this report. To reach Meredith Rodriguez, call 816-234-4415 or send e-mail to mrodriguez@kcstar.com.
Posted on Thu, Oct. 29, 2009 10:26 PM
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